Dry FliesDrunken Suzy
The Drunken Suzy is a flashy, high-visibility dry fly designed to imitate Yellow Sally stoneflies. This eye-catching pattern features a UV-bright GloBrite Floss tail, iridescent Mirage Tinsel body, and a multi-layer wing system incorporating poly yarn, CDC, emergence dubbing, and deer hair. The result is a buoyant, attention-grabbing fly that trout readily accept during Yellow Sally emergences.
Summer
Intermediate
Trout
Dec 2025
Overview
This Charlie Craven pattern from Charlie's Fly Box showcases a creative approach to imitating Yellow Sally stoneflies with maximum visibility and buoyancy. The layered wing construction builds from poly yarn underwing through CDC and emergence dubbing to a deer hair overwing, creating a complex profile that traps air and floats in the roughest water. The opal Mirage Tinsel body adds flash that attracts fish while the GloBrite tail provides a bright trigger point.
Materials
Hook: Tiemco 100SP-BL, #16
Thread: Semperfli Nano Silk 30 Denier, yellow
Tail: GloBrite Floss, #4
Body: Mirage Tinsel, medium opal
Wing: Polypropylene Macrame Yarn, yellow
Head/Overwing: Nature's Spirit Emergence Dubbing, yellow
Head/Overwing 2: CDC Feathers, yellow, 2 feathers
Head/Overwing 3: Coastal Deer Hair, bleached and dyed yellow (or standard deer hair)
Behavior & Presentation
Natural Behavior: Yellow Sally stoneflies exhibit clumsy, low erratic flight over water, frequently colliding with the surface during mating or egg-laying. Their uncontrolled landings result in awkward floundering as wet wings prevent escape. Bright coloration makes these midsummer collisions highly visible.
Where Trout Eat It: Fish take stoneflies at the surface in pocket water, runs, and riffle edges where insects collide with water during flight activity.
How to Fish It: Dead drift or add subtle twitches mimicking fluttering struggles. The high-visibility construction tracks easily through turbulent water.
Best Water: Work pocket water, runs, riffle edges, and seams where stoneflies are active over turbulent currents.
Strike Type: Visible aggressive rises or splashy takes as fish attack surface insects.
Fishing Strategy
Rigging Suggestions: Fish on a 9-foot leader tapering to 5X-6X tippet. Excellent as a dry-dropper indicator fly due to its exceptional buoyancy and visibility.
Seasonal Timing: Yellow Sally stonefly emergences, typically June through August depending on location. Peak activity often occurs during afternoon and evening hours.
Pro Tips: The combination of deer hair, CDC, and poly yarn ensures the fly floats high even after multiple fish. Dress with floatant before fishing.
Entomology
Yellow Sally stoneflies exhibit clumsy, erratic flight patterns low over the water, frequently colliding with the surface during mating flights or oviposition attempts. These smaller stoneflies lack the coordinated flight control of larger species, resulting in frequent unintentional landings where they flounder awkwardly. Their bright coloration and chaotic surface behavior make them highly visible targets, and fish respond opportunistically to these midsummer terrestrial-like presentations.
- Order
- Plecoptera
- Family
- Perlodidae
- Common Name
- Yellow Sally
- Organism Type
- insect
- Life Stage
- adult